Some Overclocking Input...

Hello Everyone,

I'm somewhat new to the overclocking world, and benchmarking. I've posted some info. about my computer, and I was just curious if this setup would be sufficient for some HIGH END gaming... Thanks for your input!!

Motherboard: ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 4200+ Dual-Core (Overclocked from 2.20GHz to 2.60GHz)

Video Card: BFG 7900 GTX (Factory Overclocked)

Cooling: Thermaltake Big Water SE (One 120mm Radiator - Idle 32 degrees Celcius)

PSU: 550 Watt Ultra X2 (Dual-Rail Technology)

RAM: 1GB (2x512) TwinX XMS Corsair PC3200 DDR400 (soon to be 4x512)

HDD's: (2X) Raptor 10K 36.6GB WD360 (RAID 0)

Mouse: Razer Copperhead 2000 dpi

Software: Win XP/SP2, GameDrive 9.0 (Is that program any good?)


All of these parts were recommended to me, I just finished assembling them and I ran 3dMark06 and my score was 6164 (Shown below)

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g305/ianthegeek/3dmark.jpg

Thanks for your input!! Any and all advise helps!!

 

dude.... your system is lightyears beyond mine... and i run Oblivion on High Details with HDR on.

 

haha.. thanks man, I worked hard to pay for it

 

im not sure what to say... do u want any advice or just comments...
i think comments so...
DAMN! im so freakin jealous!!
You... uh ... wanna give it to me?

 

Thanks a lot for the comment!

Actually yes, I am looking for some input... I would like to know if there is anything else that I should change/upgrade in my computer to make sure that it can run everything that I want it to (games and photoshop mostly). Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention in the original post that I DO intend on purchasing another BFG 7900 GTX soon so that I can have SLI. Anyways, any advise on overclocking, cooling, and performance boosting in general would be great!

Thanks again for the input!

 

The only things I could concievably suggest would be buying a Sound Card if you are using Onboard sound, looking at your system i would imagine money is no problem, so a Soundblaster X-FI would be the way to go. Tightening up your ram timings if you havent already done so will also help you get the most out of your machine, though i would imagine since you oc'ed they are already as tight as they can get. However your VDIMM is only at 2.6, you can raise it to 2.8 WITHOUT voiding the warranty on your XMS ram, that means you probably could tighten them up just by upping the VDIMM. You could also just buy 2 sticks of 1 gig as opposed to filling up all 4 DIMM slots with 512, though thats up to you. Going 2 1 gigs will also leave ou the option of adding more RAM later on if you need too, though for today, 2 gig is standard. Another GTX, why the hell not!

Just one thing to keep in mind, come Vista the 7900 series will be obsolete due to its lack of support for DX10, so buy one now, or save your money and buy 2 DX10 capable cards when (if >=D ) vista launches.

Awesome Rig man, thats some hot stuff! Post all those benchmarks when you are done!

 

Oh, I totally forgot to put the sound card in there.. haha... I have an Audigy 2 ZS Platinum right now... and Logitech THX 5.1 Surround Sound (It's in a small bedroom). Thanks a bunch for the advise, I have yet to OC the RAM much, and in a couple of reviews I read I learned that OCing to 2.80GHz can cause the computer to freeze up a bit, if I hear otherwise, and it won't cause harm to my system, I'de gladly boost it up some more. Oh, and as for the comment about the compatiblity with Vista, my BFG Card is SUPPOSED to be Vista ready, whether it truely is or not I am now doubting. So, just clarifying: DX 10 will NOT work with the 7900 GTX's, all of them, or just my card?

Thanks a bunch for the input, I shall put it to good use!

 

I run my ram at a 2.8 VDIMM and have never had ANY problems with instability, I also have 2 1 gig sticks of corsair XMS. Im not talking about ocing your CPU anymore, just saying that adding more voltage to your ram will alow your to lower your timings, thus increasing performance. As for OC'ing your proc to 2.8, if your could do that you would make me even more jelous, my proc tops at 2.75, though i think im MOBO limited. Lastly, your video card is VISTA ready, however, it does NOT support DX10. The VISTA ready advertising is misleading, all that means is you will be able to run vista with all the graphical bells and whistles, and has nothing to do with DX10. The G80 series will be the first nvidia series to support DX10. That being said, you can always OC your video card more, as BFG's factory OC's are conservative at best. I would suggest using Rivatuner to OC and control fan speed, and ATITOOL to test stability. Next month comes AGEIA PHYSX cards! Save up for one of those 2.

 

Okay, I see what you mean by OCing my RAM some more, I'll do that tonight. Well, it's too bad that I just spent almost $600 on a graphics card that is going to be obsolete in less than a year, oh well... Guess I'll sell this rig when Vista is released. Oh, and believe me: I've got every dime saved for the Physx cards... You'de better believe that I'll be one of the first in line for one of those

Thanks again for all the input!

 

So.. I've tightened up my RAM a little bit by loweing the cas latency to 2.5, as well as adding another 1GB or the same type of RAM (XMS Corsair TwinX). I also brought my CPU FSB up to 237 (x11) to bring me to a total of 2.62GHz (read by windows). I re-ran 3DMark06, and here are my results:
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g305/ianthegeek/mark2.jpg

I ONLY went up by 4 miniscule points!!!! WHY?! A whole GB of RAM more, and a higher processor speed... any thoughts??

 

Did you add in a 1 gig stick, so you now have 1 gig + 2 512, or did you add in another 2 512. If you added in a 1 gig stick and are still using your 2 512 then you ram is no longer running in dual channel, which would explain the rather small performance jump. Also, 3dmark doesnt really test RAM that much at all, it mostly tests only your CPU and your GPU. If you want to test your RAM and see how much of a difference lowering your cas and such will make you need to use Everest. Another thing is, try putting your RAM at a 1T command rate, that might help. From what I understand, the difference between 1T and 2T command rate is ~20 on the FSB. Good luck, post back if you have anymore questions!

Afterthought- Make sure you run the benchmarks after closing all programs you dont need including firewall and anti-virus (unplug from the internet completely), run it right after a reboot, and after defragging your HD, this should help increase your scores.